Microsoft Rolls Out Ad Free Bing Search for the Classroom

Microsoft believes its Bing search engine is better than what Google has to offer, and while it's not surprising the Redmond giant prefers its own offering over the competition, the company is willing to put its money where its mouth is at. Well, kind of. As part of a free program called "Bing for Schools," students and teachers in participating school districts will have access to ad-free search results, as well as adult content filtering and other perks.

It's a good will effort on Microsoft's part, but also a self serving one that it hopes will lead to increased Bing usage outside the classroom once teachers and students get a feel for the search engine and see how it compares to Google. Microsoft says several school districts across the U.S. have already signed up for the ad-free pilot program, including Los Angeles Unified School District, Atlanta Public Schools, Fresno Unified School District, and Detroit Country Day School.

"As of today, we’ll be bringing ad-free, safer, privacy-enhanced Bing to over 800,000 students with Bing for Schools," said Mike Nichols, chief marketing officer for Bing at Microsoft Corp.

In addition to ad-free search and adult content filtering, schools can earn Bing Rewards credits. Once 30,000 credits are accrued, Bing will send a Surface RT tablet with Touch Cover directly to the school. The program will also provide daily lesson plans on the Bing daily homepage image.